Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 3
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Juz' 8 with Sh. Ismail Kamdar | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 3
Surah al-A’raf contains the most vivid scenes of the hereafter. In fact, it is named after a specific station on the Day of Judgment. Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro are joined by Sh. Ismail Kamdar to reflect on those verses from juz 8 of the Holy Qur'an, including the importance of not belittling deeds and the qualities mentioned in the beginning of Surah al-Anfal that we should aspire towards to increase our faith.
Download the new eBook "Qur’an 30for30: Seerah Edition" here.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala So alhamdulillah rabbil alameen You know, usually I make this announcement I really don't need to because the guy that's joining us today has the books literally on his bookshelf back there So Shaykh Ismail is very passionate about the books, alhamdulillah I always remind everyone to download the resources The e-books, the convert resources, the du'a book, the habits book And of course to donate, you'll see the fundraising bar if you're watching on YouTube If you're watching on Facebook Wherever you're watching, inshallah ta'ala, of course you can go to the link to donate as well But Shaykh Ismail, talk to us about the e-books, man Because I know you really want to talk about them Assalamualaikum, alhamdulillah So, alhamdulillah, Yaqeen, we have a huge variety of books We started last year with the Qur'an 30 for 30 reader Which I printed out and put on the shelf behind me But now we have book 2 in the Qur'an 30 for 30 series Which is the Sirah edition We have the du'a book We have the final Proofs of Prophethood book We have the Habits journal All of these are free downloads available on the Yaqeen website Just go to yaqeeninstitute.org You'll find the e-books right at the top of the page available as free downloads Download them And just a reminder, when you want to share the books with your friends Share with them the download link So they can see what other resources we have as well Don't share with them the PDF through WhatsApp So that at least that way they can see what else is available And if they want to download something else They can see our full book list, inshallah I like how you said that with a smile You know you're really angry about it You're like, you're trying to disguise I don't like when you're stealing the PDFs And putting them on WhatsApp You're taking away my download links I'm responsible to report to you how many books are downloaded If it's getting downloaded through WhatsApp How am I supposed to report that?
So Sheikh Ismail is particular By the way everyone, Sheikh Ismail is from South Africa Are you born and raised in South Africa, Sheikh? Yeah, 5th generation South African Masha'Allah, Masha'Allah That's great, Alhamdulillah I need you to take a flight over to Ghana And tell Sheikh Abdullah's family That he's giving me a hard time over here, man Yeah, Americans make it sound like Africa is one country It's like Ghana is on the other end of the world for us Sheikh Abdullah, you pulled out your mom's accent A couple of episodes ago By popular demand Can you give us that again? Can you tell people to download the book, please? That was epic, man That was epic, Masha'Allah Oh, you're on mute, Sheikh Is that on purpose? Yeah, we're muting you Uh-oh You gotta unmute yourself, Sheikh I'm unmuting, okay Now we can hear you, yeah That was just by chance When I was just explaining the lesson That my mother says, yeah But do you want me to tell them to download the book? Please, that was epic, man I gotta get in my zone, man It's gonna come natural You need to download the book, please How was it, Sheikh Ismail? Native? I love it He's cringing again He doesn't even believe you But it's okay It'll come back, insha'Allah Of course, it's something natural Maybe when you're yelling at me You know, when I'm beating you in ping pong 20 to 5 It'll come out naturally Wow It's gotta be on live or something When we do this, man They got the whole world to see
We will We got it We'll figure it out, restream or zoom Name the platform, Sheikh Name the platform you want it to be live on Ooh, okay, okay Your platform Oh, you want it on my platform? Okay, we'll do it on my platform Put a Bismillah on it I can delete it if you're beating me too bad I can delete it Yes Alhamdulillah What juz are we on, Sheikh? Juz number 8 So we're a week in May Allah bless everyone's Ramadan I pray that you had a good first week And your Ramadan will be blessed as well Bi'idhnillahi ta'ala So inshallah ta'ala we'll go ahead and get started Inshallah, Bismillah, walhamdulillah, wa salatu was salam wa ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala So subhanallah, this is actually one of those sections where you have one of the most vivid scenes of the hereafter actually brought forth In fact, the entire surah is named after a scene of the akhira which is not common in the Quran So the surah is named surah al-a'raf which is referring to a very specific situation, a very specific station on the day of judgment And I want to actually build up to the section about al-a'raf with some of the other verses within the surah First and foremost, you look at verses 8 and 9 in surah al-a'raf, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says wal-waznu yawma idhni alhaqq faman thaqulat mawazinuhu fa-ulaika hum al-muflihoon waman khaffat mawazinuhu fa-ulaika allatheena khasiroo anfusahum bima kanoo bi-aayatina yawtulimoon That the weighing on that day will be just as for those whose scale will be heavy with good deeds, only they will be amongst the successful and those whose scale is light, they have doomed themselves for wrongfully denying our signs So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala starts off with the mizan
right, this idea that if the mizan weighs, you know first of all that the mizan will be just right, that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will not wrong anyone with the mizan, with the scale and that it will be precise and so if your scale is heavier with good deeds, then you will be from the successful and if your scale is light then you would have doomed yourself for wrongfully denying the signs of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala so this is the way Allah Azawajal introduces the entire concept which is very pertinent to the story of the people of Al-A'raf, then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says when you go to verses 38 to 39 Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the groups of people that are entering into the fire, may Allah protect us Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says kulla ma dakhalat ummatun la'anat ukhtaha hatta idha daraku feeha jamee'an qalat ukhrahum li ulaahum rabbana ha'ulai a'dalluna fa aatihim a'dhabin dhi'fan minan naar qala li kullin dhi'fan walakin na ta'alamun Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says that as every group is entering into the punishment they curse the preceding one until they're all gathered inside so as the groups are going in they're cursing the group that went in before it and this is what ukhtaha means here by the way and then the followers who are following their leaders are saying our lord they misled us so multiply their punishment they misled us so multiply their punishment so the followers are invoking curses upon the leaders that led them into doom and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala's answer is that it's being multiplied for all that the multiplication of the punishment for them, for those that they led astray is for them but everyone has to be responsible for their own deeds, for their own deeds, wa qalat ulaahum li ukhrahum so the leaders then respond to the followers, fama kana lakum alayna min fadlin fadhuqul a'dhabin bima kuntum taksibun you were no better than us
so taste the punishment for that which you used to do so the leaders are saying to the followers don't blame us this was all on you you had the same scale that we had you could have thought for yourself, you could have figured it out for yourself and there is some truth to that right? there is some truth to that that you should have taken responsibility for yourself you shouldn't have just followed along but rather you should have taken responsibility for your own deeds now Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la then verse 43 gives us the opposite of that which is the people of paradise, may Allah make us amongst them and Allah says wa naza'na ma fee sudhoorihim min ghirlin tajli min tahtihimul anhaar wa qalul hamdu lillahi lathee hadana lihaza wama kunna linahtadia lawla an hadana Allah Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that when the people of paradise enter into paradise we remove any grudges, any bitterness they had in their hearts towards one another and as the rivers are flowing under their feet they say Alhamdulillah they don't praise the leaders, they praise Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la because everyone was accountable for their own deeds and anyone that is blessed with guidance attributes that guidance properly to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la so they say Alhamdulillah all praises be to Allah for guiding us to this we would have never been guided if Allah had not guided us to it. Fast forward to verse 46, this is where you have the people of Al-A'raf Al-A'raf is the plural of the word Urf which means an elevated piece of land and so as Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuma as well as Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu Anhum and several of the companions narrated the people of Al-A'raf are a people whose good and bad deeds are equal on the scale and so their sins prevented them from entering into paradise but their good deeds prevented them from going to the fire so they're standing on top of this wall, this barrier
that is erected and they have this view of the people entering into paradise and they have this view of the people entering into hellfire SubhanAllah what a view right? They're watching both sides, some entering into paradise, some entering into the fire and they're basically put on hold until Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la comes back to them so they're left in limbo in a way because they were equal in their deeds which shows you the value of one good deed on the day of judgment so Allah says Wa baynahuma hijabu ala al-a'rafi rijalun ya'rifuna kullan bisi ma'hun wa na'du ashaab al-jannah an salamun alaykum lam yadkhuluha wahum yatma'oon so they're on this barrier seeing the people enter paradise and they recognize the people entering paradise and they recognize the people entering the fire so they call out to the people of paradise and they say salamun alaykum, peace be on to you, they're happy for them even though they have not yet entered paradise while they are eagerly hoping to be amongst the people of paradise then Allah says wa itha surifat abusaruhum tilqa ashaab an naar then their eyes are turned towards the people of the fire so they say Rabbana la taj'alna ma'al qawmin dhalimeen, oh Allah do not join us with these wrong doing people wa na'da ashaab al-a'raf so now they call out to the people of the fire, so remember they called out to the people of paradise and they said salamun alaykum, peace be on to you and they congratulated them, they were happy for them because they recognized them and they wanted to be amongst them and now they're calling out to the people of the fire and they say wa na'da ashaab al-a'raf rijal ya'rifoonahum bi simahum qaloo maa aghna'ankum jam'ukum wama kuntum tastakbiroon they call out to them and they say what did your arrogance what did your large numbers do for you today, all of that and this shows you as the scholars say that the people of the fire have nasty traits that make them
people that are not liked they're disliked, so the people of al-a'raf are people that were really a mixed bag but mixed to a point that they equalized in evil and good but they're calling out to the people of the fire like these people were so arrogant they used to talk so much they used to have so much pride and they're calling out to them and they're saying what did that all do for you now, where did that lead you to now and they're praying not to be amongst them and Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala eventually says to them udkhulul jannah la khawfun alaikum wa la intum tahzanun Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says to them enter into paradise there will be no fear upon you nor shall you grieve, so eventually these people are entered into paradise which shows you the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala exceeds his wrath and then finally verse 50 wa nada ashabu al-nari ashab al-jannah the people of the fire cry out to the people of jannah, ahlul a'raf the people of a'raf are now the people of jannah too, so this is now the people of al-a'raf have entered into jannah and they are from the people of jannah and the people of the fire are crying out to them collectively after they fought amongst themselves and they say afeelu alayna minal ma'a aw mimma razaqakum Allah, you know pour upon us some water or some of the provision, the sustenance that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has granted you and they cry out and they say inna Allah harrama huma ala alkaafireen, like no this is too late for you it is too late for you, you should not have waited until this moment to cry out and ask for some bits and pieces, you could have been people of jannah as well, right, you had an opportunity to be people of jannah as well, subhanAllah these conversations are are stark and they will happen, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us these are the conversations that will happen, so we are reading these conversations now and we
ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us from the people of jannah that are being congratulated by the people of al-a'raf not to be from the people of al-a'raf that have to wait until the end, nor to be of course even the lowest of these categories to be from the people of al-naaf, Allahumma ameen but it's stunning because it shows you the superiority of Allah's mercy, the responsibility of every person to try to achieve that mercy and not to blame anyone else when they go astray and the importance and significance of every single one of your deeds, it could be that one good deed that changes your situation and where you are in the conversations on this page may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from the people of al-firdaws al-a'la, Allahumma ameen inshaAllah ta'ala I will hand it over to Sheikh Abdullah, may Allah bless you Jazakumullah khairan SubhanAllah, every time I read those verses it's you know, you ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to make you from the people of jannah because you can imagine you can't imagine to a certain degree of you know, just being in full regret of hasra, as mentioned in another portion of the Quran and being full regrets and wishing you could go back and change things well now we are in that time where we can change things, where we can actually ask for forgiveness and be of those people that do the deeds, do the good deeds inshaAllah that after the mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will be a reason for us to enter into jannah inshaAllah ta'ala it's ultimately as we know, as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said illa an yataghamadani Allahum birahmatihi that would enter him into jannah, except that the mercy of Allah envelops me and covers me and allows me ultimately into jannah. There will be situations where there may be people as we have seen, as we have heard about and maybe even watched, that have been in the middle of what we may term as a wrath or something that be
we would probably call it a natural disaster that some would even call it something that happens to a group of people, a nation of people and from them are the righteous this is a question what about the righteous people that were amongst those that were punished or that were doing that abominable acts you know it's interesting Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in the chapter of Al-An'am verse number 132 which I plan to cover right before that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala calls out to the jinn and calls out to mankind and he's asking them the rhetorical question when he says after A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajim Ya Ma'a Shuraa Al-Jinni Wal-Insi Alam Yatikum Nusulun Minkum Yaqusuna Alaikum Ayati Wa Yundilunakum Niqaa Yaumikum Hatha Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala asks them a company of jinn and mankind did the messengers not come from amongst you and recite my revelations to you and warn you that you would meet this day what would they say Qalu Shahidna Ala Anfusina Wa Gharratumul Hayatu Al-Dunya Wa Shahidu Ala Anfusihim Anhum Kanoo Kafireen. They will say SubhanAllah, they will say we testify against ourselves the life of this world seduced them but they will testify against themselves that they rejected the truth and then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says right after that Thalika Al-Lam Yakun Thalika Al-Lam Yakun Rabbuka Muhnikal Qura Bi Dhulmin Wa Ahluha Ghaafilun. Your lord would not destroy towns for their wrong doing if they had not been warned so now Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling you that there is no such thing as Zulm with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala Zulm is putting something in its improper place. Justice is giving everything its proper right and Zulm is the opposite of that and Zulm is impossible with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Zulm only comes from someone that has a deficient nature and that is of the human beings and everything other than Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala addresses and he says
that is because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala would never oppress a people if they were that he would not cause a catastrophe or something to happen, destroy towns and the people of them were doing the wrong do they were wrong doing if they haven't been warned. So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing them that there was a warning that was given to them and if this takes place, if this punishment takes place in whichever shape, form or fashion, it is warranted. But then the question may arise as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned in an authentic hadith that's mutafiquna alayya, it's agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim that Aisha reported that Allah's Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying that an army will set out to attack the Kaaba but an extensive desert from but in an extensive desert the first and last of them will be swallowed up and then Aisha Radhiallahu Anhu asked the first and last of them will be swallowed up and amongst them are people that have markets and people who are not of their of their number. Now we're not with them when trying to make this attempt. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said the first and last of them will be swallowed up and then they will be resurrected in a state agreeing with their intentions yubAAathuna ala niyyatihim Umm Salama also asked the same type of question when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said they will be destroyed and people are, there will be a group of people that will be destroyed and then Umm Salama said, afeehim salihoon that there will be righteous people amongst them and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said yes if there is much wickedness idha kathur al-khabath so if there is much wickedness in society and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la brings his wrath may Allah protect us from that ameen, that there may be of the salihoon that are amongst them. The wrath does not mean that they were of the people that did wrong but the wrath is the way that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la decides with his wisdom and knowledge to punish a group of people if the khabath, if the wickedness is spread. SubhanAllah it makes the individual think about our times now, the wickedness that is
spread and what could take place we never know, we never know that's why it's always important as Shaykh Omar even mentioned to never belittle any deed that you have, that you do, any little deed that you do of khair or any little deed that you do of of evil. As Ibn Abbas RadhiAllahu Anhumai said, SubhanAllah that you know he said that verily do not belittle the small sins for verily mountains are made of pebbles. So never belittle any deed that you do and know that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is As-Sami' Al-Mawsiya, that he is the all-seeing and the all-hearing. But the verse I want to talk about here is where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says right after that, it's a verse of indirect hope and encouragement. After he mentions that he will destroy the nation and is not oppressed, he will not oppress those because they have been warmed, he says after that, Wa li kullin darajatun mimma amilu wa ma rabbuka bi ghafilin amma ya'manun. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Wa li kullin darajatun mimma amilu and everyone is assigned a rank according to their deeds. What's interesting here, I want to kind of dive into the Arabic here and then we will extract from that inshaAllah. He says, Wa li kullin, he says, and for everyone, and this is an indefinite usage showing generality. It's indefinite usage showing generality. Everyone. Darajatun mimma amilu. Here he says darajat, and darajat means ranks. But if we want to be more specific, there is darajat and there is darakat. Darajat is that which is an elevated rank. Darakat is that which is a lowly rank. Inni al-munafiqeena fi darqi al-asfali minan-nar. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that the hypocrites are in the lowest levels of the fire. Right, and I think Shaykh Omar even mentioned the word darq when he was talking about the story of the Ashab al-A'raf. So in here, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says darajat, and some scholars mention
that Allah uses darajat to motivate the mu'mineen because they're the ones that will have darajat. And it's a level of motivation for them that everyone is at their level, but the ones that will have the darajat are the mu'mineen and the believers amongst the people. That's why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says wali kullin darajatin mimma amilu, from what they did. And this is important for us to remember that everyone is different. Everyone is different. Do not look at someone else and base your reality off of theirs. Because many things can come from that. One can be jealous, one can have envy, bad things can happen. So when one looks at his or her deeds, look at his or her deeds, and then ask Allah to make you firm, if it was a good deed, and ask Allah to forgive you if it was not a good deed, if we fell short for our shortcomings, that we will all fall short in. So here he's saying everyone has their levels based on what they did. They are assigned a rank according to their deeds. wa maa rabbuka bi ghafilin AAamma yaAAmanoon And Allah, your Lord, is not unaware of anything that they do. So here Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la negates ghafla. He negates any type of negligence of what anyone does. Aamma yaAAmanoon, in particular, here it was, as some scholars mentioned, the mu'mineen, and some of them, they mention jamee'ahum, jamee'al khalq, all of mankind here. But what's interesting here is a small benefit that I want to leave us with. As we talked about before, you know, one in Ramadan may think, how can I start to establish the relationship with God that I never had before, or that I had the previous Ramadan. I always tell myself and others, learn the beautiful names and attributes of God. Learn what Allah says, the names that he gives himself, learn what those names are, and then see how they're applied in your life. So here Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says,
wa maa rabbuka bi ghafilin aamma yaAAmanoon. Some of the scholars mentioned, if his negation, if he negates something about himself, and it's a little descriptive, then we look at the opposite and confirm the perfect and complete opposite. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says here, and he is not unaware of what you do. The opposite of ghafla can be ilm, knowledge. So Allah's knowledge is complete. His awareness is complete. It is not incomplete. And that's one of his names, al-'aleem. So when we look at knowledge of Allah, he knows what was, what is, and what will be, and he knows the hypotheticals. So in realizing that situation, when one knows that Allah knows, that insha'Allah, with the good hopes from Allah, brings a level of serenity, solace, security, certainty, that Allah is well aware. At the same time, accountability, because he's not unaware of what they do. So remembering this beautiful name of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, he is the all-knowledgeable. Remembering that if we see a nation that may crumble, or there is maybe a punishment from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and some of our relatives may be there, and we know them as as-salihun, the Prophet ﷺ does not neglect that. Allah is not unaware of that. That they will be raised on their intentions. They will be raised by their intentions. Allah is not unaware of what we do. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make our actions khalisan li wajih, make it sincere for his face, for him, insha'Allah. Revealing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is al-'aleem. Ameen. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh. Beautiful words. KaramakAllah. Allah yabarak fi shaykh Ismail. We'll just get right to it. Bismillah. At-Fatir. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulillah. So the passage that I've chosen for today is actually from the beginning of Surah Al-Anfal. And it's verses 2 to 4 of Surah Al-Anfal.
And SubhanAllah, it's qadarullah that all the passages we chose, they work together to build a story for us, right? That we learned that there are people whose deeds of good and bad will be equal. And that we learned that there are different levels and darajas that the believers go through. And what the opening verses of Surah Al-Anfal do is they give us a description of five qualities of the true believer that we should aspire to watch. That these five qualities should be our goals in life. That if we have some of them, insha'Allah we are believers. But our goal should be to have all of them. So in this verse, Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala tells us, Innamal mu'minuna allatheena iza dhukirallahu wajilat quloobuhum That the believers are those who when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble. Wa iza tuliad alayhim ayatuhu zadatuhum imanah And when his verses, the Quran, is recited, their faith increases. Wa ala rabbihim yatawakkaloon And they have tawakkul, they have a trust in their Lord. Allatheena yuqimuna as-salata wa mimma razaqanahum yunfikoon They are those who establish the Salah and they spend generously from what we have provided them. Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala then says, Ulaika humul mu'minuna haqqa These are the true believers. And the Mufassirun say that this means these are the people who have reached perfection of faith. They have reached the highest level of faith. And then Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala gives us a list of rewards. That if we aim and aspire towards having these five qualities, then there are some rewards we can look forward to. And interestingly, the first one he mentions is what Sheikh Abdullah was talking about. Lahum darajatun anda rabbihim That they will have a daraja, a high status by their Lord.
Wa maghfira and forgiveness Wa rizqun kareem And they will have generous sustenance, a lot of sustenance. So when we look at these three verses, what we get is a series of five qualities that we should aspire towards to help us become true believers, to help us attain perfection in our iman. Alhamdulillah, everyone who believes in the six pillars of iman has iman to some level, but iman increases and decreases and we need to aim for higher levels of iman. And these verses give us some of the things we can do to reach higher levels of iman. Now what's interesting is that verse number two focuses on the internal. It focuses on three things we can change within our hearts that help us to reach higher levels of iman. And then verse number three focuses on the external, on the things that we can physically do to increase our iman. So internally, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions three things. Number one, when his name is mentioned, our hearts tremble. This means that we should have such a relationship with our creator that we should be in awe of him. That when Allah's name is mentioned, our hearts should move. We should feel something. And what's interesting is that some of the Mufassirin have stated that the five qualities mentioned here are the five qualities of the true believer. The opposite are the five qualities of the munafiq, of the hypocrite. So the true believer, when Allah's name is mentioned, it affects his heart. The munafiq, the hypocrite, when Allah's name is mentioned, it doesn't bother him. It doesn't faze him. He doesn't care because he doesn't truly believe. So how do we reach that level of faith where we are in awe of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala whenever his name is mentioned? Again, it goes back to what Sheikh Abdullah was talking about, that we study his names and attributes.
The more you know Allah, the more you love Allah, the more you are in awe of Allah, the more you want to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so studying the names and attributes of Allah, they help us to reach this level where when his name is mentioned, our hearts shake. The second quality that when the verses of the Quran are recited, the faith increases. And Alhamdulillah, I think most of us, we experience this in Ramadan, in the taraweeh, that when the imam is reciting the Quran, you know, especially the imam has a beautiful voice. We can literally feel our iman increasing. Now, how do we experience this all year round? By making the Quran a part of our life. So in Ramadan, we increase our recitation of the Quran, but outside of Ramadan, we should still be reciting Quran every day. So maybe in Ramadan, you recite one or two juz a day, outside Ramadan, at least five or ten minutes a day. So we maintain that connection with the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so every day it becomes something that is part of our hearts. It is part of who we are. And it has this impact on our faith. The third internal quality that is mentioned is tawakkul. Tawakkul, that we trust Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That we have a sense of optimism about this world. That no matter what goes wrong, we say, حسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل. We trust Allah. Allah knows best for us. Allah's Qadr is best. And in this Qadr of Allah, in this tawakkul, we find inner peace no matter what is going on in our lives. We find ways to be happy no matter what is going wrong in our lives. And we find a sense of optimism and never losing hope because our tawakkul is not in any worldly means. It is in our Creator. So those are the three things we can change inside ourselves to reach higher levels of iman.
That we get to know our Creator, that we develop a relationship with the Quran, and that we work on our tawakkul, that we increase our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Externally, there are two signs of the believer that are mentioned over and over again throughout the Quran. Right at the very beginning, in the beginning of Surah Baqarah, Allah mentions these same two qualities. And that is that they establish the salah and they spend generously on what Allah has provided them. And so this means that as Muslims, we should be people of salah and people of sadaqah. That spending generously, this is what the believer should be known for. All of us in our communities, we as Muslims should be known as the most generous people in our communities. We should be known as the people of prayer, that we never miss a salah. When the salah time comes in, we pray the salah on time, always without exception. And that our lifestyle is a generous lifestyle, not just with our wealth, but with our time, with our resources, with our knowledge, whatever Allah has given us, we spend it generously in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so these five qualities are the qualities of the believer, that internally we have a relationship with Allah and the Quran and we have the wakul. Externally, we are known as the people of salah and the people of generosity. And again, the Mufasireen said the munafiq is the opposite. The hypocrite is the opposite. The hypocrite has no relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When Allah's name is mentioned, it has no impact on his heart. The munafiq, the Quran recitation does not increase his faith. Instead, it irritates him. He doesn't want to hear the Quran recited. The munafiq does not have the wakul in Allah. He has the wakul in his salary. He has the wakul in his own skills. He has the wakul in some worldly means. His wakul is not in Allah. The munafiq is not regular in his prayers. And he is miserly because he thinks his world is his own. He does not realize it is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so many of us, we may be a mixture. We have some of the qualities of the believer,
some of the qualities of the munafiq. We are all a work in progress. We all have been continuously working towards a higher level to become better versions of ourselves. But we must ensure we don't ever fall to the level where all five qualities of the munafiq are within us. And at the same time, our goal should be to have those five qualities of the true believer. So what's the reward for this? Allah mentions three rewards. Number one is daraja, a high rank. And the scholars of tafsir, they link this to the hadith. When the Prophet ﷺ said that when Allah loves a servant, he tells Jibreel. And then Jibreel ﷺ tells the angels. And the love of that person spreads throughout the heavens and the earth until even the people of this earth love him. This is the daraja that one reaches when one has a strong relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then the second one is maghfirah, forgiveness. Now what's interesting is each of these five qualities link to a different one of these rewards. So for example, if you have a strong awe of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you give Allah the respect that he deserves the best of your ability, Allah will make you respected in the sight of people. Then we have maghfirah. And we know one of the main ways of achieving maghfirah and forgiveness in this world is to pray five times a day. Like the Prophet ﷺ gave us the analogy that a person who prays five times a day is like someone who bathes five times a day. All of his sins are washed away. And then the third reward is a noble sustenance. And how do you get noble sustenance? The wakul and sadaqah, that you trust Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with your risk and you are generous. And I want to end with a beautiful narration from Imam Hassan Basri rahimahullah, where he was once asked, Oh Hassan, are you a true, are you a mu'min, are you a believer? And what a beautiful reply Imam Hassan Basri rahimahullah gave. He said, if you are asking whether I believe in Allah and his angels and his books and his prophets
and the last day and Jannah and Jahannam and Qadr, then yes, I'm a believer. But if you are asking me if these three verses apply to me, then wallahi I do not know. Wallahi I do not know, meaning these three verses show us the highest level of faith. A level so high that even one of the awliya like Hassan al-Basri felt he had not reached that level yet. So we shouldn't feel bad if we don't have all five of these qualities, because even Imam Hassan al-Basri felt he didn't have all five of these qualities. Rather, these should be life goals that we spend our life in pursuit of attaining these five qualities. And in that effort, we will find the reward of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the reward of a high daraja, the reward of maghfirah and the reward of a noble sustenance. Jazakumullahu khair Sheikh Ismail. Mashallah, very powerful, very beautiful. And subhanAllah, we didn't plan it that way, but everything built, everyone's points really built on the other. Right. Why aim to not just be from the lowest, aim for the highest. And if you fall short, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make up whatever gap is actually there. Beautiful words, subhanAllah. Sheikh Ismail, when Sheikh Abdullah and I come to Ghana, inshallah, you're going to have to fly up, man. Six hours, I think, five, six hours. I know you think it's the other side of the world, but in Dallas, we take four hour, five hour flights all the time. Yeah, yeah, inshallah. When you're anywhere that's within eight hour flight of South Africa, let me know. Within eight hours. I'm pretty sure it's within eight hours, inshallah. Sheikh Abdullah, we got an invite to Nigeria, inshallah ta'ala. You know, Nigeria, the invitation specifically came for you and I together. So I'm inviting you on air, inshallah ta'ala. You got to come with me to Nigeria, Sheikh Abdullah, in December, inshallah, around December time. Are you down? Oh, you're on mute. I'm down. Conveniently on mute. I see how it is.
Well, see, I got to ask my mom. I can't, if I got to stop by Ghana, man, my mother's in Ghana. So definitely we're going to go together, inshallah ta'ala. We'll go together. We'll play ping pong there, inshallah. We'll settle. No reception. We'll have to. We'll have to. No, man, we look, we've got to go to Ghana. We got to go to Nigeria, inshallah ta'ala. Because, you know, Yusuf, my brother, Yusuf's wife is from Nigeria. And I've been invited to Nigeria multiple times. Oh, you told me that to Nigeria, inshallah ta'ala. And I've got ancestry in Senegal and Mali. So I got to go to Senegal and Mali and then the Gambia next to Senegal. Because Abu Bakr al-Tambeidou, my, our beloved friend, mashallah, who actually tunes in. So may Allah bless him, form of justice after the Gambia. And we got to we got to work it out, man. December. You know, we can't leave out Somalia. Right? No, definitely not Somalia. Of course not. Right. Our best students are from Somalia always, alhamdulillah. Masha'Allah, man. So we got it. We got a lot of a lot of trekking to do, inshallah ta'ala, once we get there. And Sheikh Ismail is going to come meet us because we're not going to South Africa. Insha'Allah, I'll bring you all to South Africa one day, inshallah. I've been. I've been. Every week somebody asks me when Sheikh Umar coming to South Africa again. Sheikh Abdullah, have you been to South Africa? No, sir, I have not been. I really want to go. Inshallah, inshallah, inshallah. Now that the borders are opening up and travel is getting back to normal, inshallah, we'll see it's an impersonal appointment. Insha'Allah, inshallah, Allah bless you. So what does everyone know your official position? Like what do you do for your team? My position. Yeah, I'm the P.O. of Yakin Books. So I mean, I'm the head of the publication department. Just seeing our books from idea to publication, the entire process, the writing, the editing, the cover design, marketing.
I just oversee all of that. So Alhamdulillah, the book department is one side. What I handle the other side. Sheikh Umar, should I mention what they do on the other side? That's I don't talk about that. That's that's our secret between me and Sheikh Umar. I'm right in the middle. Don't know nothing. Check your tires. Personal favorites. Just like, you know, I don't know, man. Check this. We're blessed. We're blessed to have you. I think the blessings, all of you that are following along with the e-books. Alhamdulillah, Sheikh Ismail and I have co-authored, but just give him more credit for sure. MashaAllah, for sure. He's unbelievably organized, structured. So if you're benefiting from the e-books, you have Sheikh Ismail to thank and make dua for, inshaAllah. I just want to say one thing, man. The reason I asked you to mention your position, because, you know, it's important for the world to know that it's a team of people and we all do this together. And it just always reminds me of the verse, Wa ta'awuna alal birri wa taqwa. If you yourself want to do something in your locality, do it. If there's people that want to work with you, Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Don't worry about the haters, the naysayers. As long as your intention is for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will assist you. Do the work for the sake of Allah. Whether it's making an Instagram account and just spreading adhkar, you know, do something, especially in this beautiful month of Ramadan. Let it be a catalyst to work together in khair. So, you know, mashallah, the Yaqeen family is all around the world. And as you can see, the quality of knowledge and the quality of individuals, it's a beautiful thing. And I'm just happy to be a part of this effort. And I thank Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala that he allowed me to be a part of this. We're happy you're a part of it, Sheikh Abdullah. We're happy you're a big part of it, man. JazakAllah khair. Allah ya'fadak.
Enjoy today. JazakAllah khair for shining the light a little bit extra brighter on Sheikh Ismail for the work that he does. Alhamdulillah. Sheikh Ismail, we're very happy to have you here. And inshallah ta'ala we'll see you all tomorrow. BarakAllahu feekum. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Waalaikumussalam wa rahmatullah.
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